"You asking for a reason?"
"I've got nervous people in the area, people who own their land fair and square." A lot of Forgotten had settled in that region, finding comfort in the massive shadow of the mountains.
Lucas shook his head. "Won't be a problem. Remi bought up a huge tract of land for his people, and under the amendments to the Constitution after the Territorial Wars, he's got changeling rights to the areas in public ownership."
Dev had read those laws himself. "As long as he maintains the natural landscape and can hold it against other changelings, it's his? Doesn't that go against the Peace Accord?"
"That area was unclaimed," Lucas said. "If it had been claimed but the pack was weak, he could've gone in then, too. Fact it was empty makes it even easier."
"And my people's access to that public land?"
"Still theirs, but if Remi succeeds in holding it, they'll have to follow his rules."
"Not exactly fair."
Lucas shrugged. "If he does hold it, he also pledges to help the people in his territory, so the humans and nonpredatories get leopard protection. It's not a bad deal."
"Unless Remi is a piece of shit."
A grin spread across the leopard alpha's face. "I'll tell him you said that."
"I'd rather you give me his direct line. I can't pin the bastard down long enough to talk."
"He's busy establishing his territory." But Lucas took out his cell and sent the data wirelessly to Dev's own phone. "Remi's okay. It'll be interesting to see if RainFire sticks together - like I said, the pack's based around a group of leopards who chose to walk alone until Remi sweet-talked them into joining up with him."
"You seem to know a bit about him. I thought the packs were independent."
"Times change," Lucas said, no amusement in his tone now. "Intelligence is a useful tool - even for the most isolated packs."
Dev met the other man's eyes. "There are Forgotten across the country."
"Maybe we should talk."
EARTHTWO COMMAND LOG: SUNSHINE STATION
10 July 2080: Official incident report: Four staff members appear to have experienced a hallucinatory episode of significant strength. During the period of irregular brain activity, they caused extensive damage to the main sleeping quarters. Repairs are now in progress.
All the affected individuals were checked by the medics and pronounced stable after twelve hours of observation. The medical team currently has no conclusive data, but is theorizing that the four may have been poisoned by a contaminant in the food chain. Our supplies are in the process of being scanned for toxins.
Chapter 28
Katya spent most of the rest of the afternoon watching archived news footage on the small comm unit in her room. More and more of her memory was coming back, and several times she found herself prompting the anchor. When that happened one time too many, she turned off the panel and decided to stretch her legs.
No one bothered her when she went into the kitchen. After grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter, she opened the back door and stepped out.
"Going to be a nice night," Tiara said from where she was going through a graceful exercise routine on the back lawn, her hair swept up in a sleek ponytail, her body covered by a flowing white top and black leggings.
Taking a bite of the apple, Katya looked up at the early evening sky. "How can you tell?"
"I've got weather-sense, as my oma would say."
"Oma?"
"My grandmother." Tiara stretched out her long limbs in an almost feline way. "She was born in Indonesia, but her ancestors were all sea-folk over from the Netherlands. No one can read weather like a sailor."
The apple left a sweet, slightly tart taste on Katya's tongue. Relishing it, she took another bite. "Did your family intermarry with the Indonesian population?"
"Can't you tell? I'm a mutt." A wink from an eye that was uptilted just enough to whisper of ancestors far from Europe.